really hurting. banks are also hurting. joanne did a good job of the financial sector and the way it is suffering because of the current situation. one of the things we are trying to do, senator, and that is quite important. we both worked in iraq. we do not want our sanctions to devastate the broader syrian economy, because in the period after assad, it will be important for syria to be a strong country and a strong economy will be part of that. so we have really worked in the united states government and with our partners abroad to target the sanctions against specific companies and against specific individuals that are involved in the repression. without targeting the broader syrian economy and making the people of syria suffer. it is a different kind of

sanctions regime from what we have in iraq, say. it is much more specifically targeted with the goal of sparing the syrian people themselves great suffering. >> and i know that's always the challenge to make such sanctions targeted enough and impactful enough on the regime. i know that we have seen as often happens in these situations, we have seen an outmigration against -- most of it or the majority of folks fleeing northwestern syria into turkey. any report you can give us on that and a related question and maybe the bigger question is, how do you assess the role played by syria and what more do

you hope -- i'm sorry, i meant the turkish government, what role can the turkish government play in creating more pressure and more impact on the syrian regime. >> on the economic sanctions you mentioned and the challenge of getting targeting that works and has an impact. we really do spend a lot of time. and let me give you a couple of success stories that may not have made the news here. one of president assad's cousins is very well known in sir yeah and the richest man in syria and

he is a an unscrupulous businessman. and we have targeted him specifically as well as his companies because we know he help helps fin ains the regular eesm. he applied for citizenship to cyprus and didn't get it and working with the e.u., he couldn't get citizenship. and that is strike one against him. strike two, one of his biggest companies is called sham holding and we targeted that specifically. it had a board of directors and we went after them specifically. their board members' term expired at the end of april and they were too afraid to have another board meeting. so they finally -- the government insisted that they have a board meeting in yull and all they were able to do is come

up with half of a board and one vice chairman. no one agreed to be the chairman. so sanctions do bite, maybe not in ways that are always in the headlines, but what we do see is more and more business people, especially sunni business people, which is an important pillar of the regime's support, we do see them shifting sides and that's important. i think our sanctions are having an impact. with respect to your question about refugees going into turkey and the turkish role more generally. couple of things i would say, first, we appreciate that the turks did offer refuge to people fleeing the government of syria, which campaigns in northwestern syria. people fled in the thousands, we estimate 12,000, fled mainly because they were terrified of

army and intelligence service retaliation against them. the army and especially, and especially the intelligence services had a fearsome reputation and we have seen plenty of videos on arabic satellite tv how they beat and torture people, some of them grite gruesome. so we appreciate the role that the turks have played. my understanding now is that some refugees who went to turkey are beginning to trickle back into syria. they think they will be safe. the syrian red crescent has extended promises that they will watch over people coming back, that there is not mistreatment. i think most of the refugees are

in turkey, somewhere around 8,000. plenty of people still afraid and don't trust their own government in syria, but the turkish role on this has been very good and we appreciate it. with respect, senator, your question more broadly about what can turkey do. turkey has a very, very important role and i'm in touch with my colleague. the turks have a very deep commercial relationship that they have been building up for years. they had personal relations between the turkish leadership and the syrian leadership. they wanted to build influence. i think it is fair to say that the turks even yesterday, i'm sorry, the turkish president was critical of the latest syrian measures. the turks perhaps have a unique capability both to talk to the

syrians at several levels because over the levels they have built those contacts and also were they to adopt sanctions for example, i think those two would bite. >> that's something i hope we can continue to foster, because that kind of help in the region could be very significant. i was in the region last in july of 2010 and one of our -- and our second to last stop was in beirut, lebanon and i could feel the heavy presence of hezbollah in lebanon. and i wanted to get your sense about the implications of the unrest and violence in syria, the implications for lebanon and

how has the response been? >> senator, when i appeared before the foreign relations committee in march of 2010, we spoke a long time about hezbollah in that hearing, i recall. we have a real opportunity with change in syria to see both iranian influence and hezbollah influence in the region diminish. that would be a real gain for us. it would be a real gain for the syrian people, since the iranians are helping right now with the repression in syria. with respect to hezbollah specifically, the support to hezbollah has continued. it has not stopped. at the same time, i think the leadership of hezbollah at first

was very outspoken in its support of the syrian government. more recently, they have been quiet. and my sense is that they have seen enough hezbollah flags burned in syrian protests, especially in places like hammah, that they realize that their support for the syrian government is not garnering any long term friendship with the syrian people. >> can you explain that, just walk through that. >> the protestors and i think syrians germly understand that iran and hezbollah are supporting syrian government repression against them. >> and i know when you were

getting out of damascus and i think with a lot of valor and a lot of commitment to bear witness to the truth when you made that journey, i know it had to be in some ways harrowing, but what did you draw from it mostly? i know you saw a lot and have a better sense of what was happening on the ground, but did you draw from other than, i guess, what has to be remarkable inspiration when you draw upon that -- the inspiration provided by these brave people? what else can you tell us about that journey you took? >> fascinating experience and i have had a lot of interesting trips in the peace corps and foreign service, but that one

would come up at the top. i shared a couple of conclusions with the department of state and the media. the protestors are peaceful. the one weapon i saw was a sling shot. these are not gunmen. when we came up to the first check point, very frankly the locals' check point, we weren't sure if they were going to be armed. but the second point is they are not against foreigners. we told them we were american dip plow mats, oh, america, go ahead. we got kind of lost and should have had a map. we had to stop and ask direction, they got in the car and invited us to lunch. they are not anti-american and

appreciate the attention that the united states showed to their cause and that they were peaceful. they asked me who i was, i said i'm the american ambassador and they said come on. they didn't believe me until i gave them business cards. and the third thing is their incredible commitment and i get that whenever i meet opposition people in any city in syria. the commitment they have to change and to freedom and to dignity. they are not going to stop. they underline that over and over and we have seen that. we were talking about egypt a little while ago. roughly 900 egyptians died in the first phase of that egyptian revolution out of a country of 80 million people. syria has 23 million people and nearly 2,000 have died.

the scale of killing in syria is way beyond what it was in egypt. but the people are quite committed to change and i don't think they're going to stop. and so i think we owe it to them to remain supportive and to try to build that support wisely, carefully, but to build that support. >> i know we have to wrap up and we have covered a good bit but not nearly enough. we will have questions for the record and try not to overload you with questions because you have work to do but i'll leave the record open until friday for other members to submit questions or for any witnesses to amplify their testimony and the responses. in conclusion, one kind of broad

question, but an important one because of the way we interact in hearings like this. i think i know what you are -- what your message is to the american people on this, but what specifically you and the administration would hope that the congress would do by way of action or -- legislative action or otherwise that you think would be constructive in hell ming to not just show solidarity but to continue the focus that should be brought to bear on what these brave citizens of syria are trying to accomplish. >> senator, i have been working in the middle east since 1980 when i went out as a peace corps volunteer and i liked the

president's speech on the arab spring, the speech that he gave on may 19, because i think he laid out for the american people why change in the arab world matters for us and what it means for our own national security. and the point that the president stressed that i appreciated was that the democratic transitions under way from morocco to the persian gulf do matter to us. we have big interests in that part of the world and it can be positive change. and we should be supporting democratic transitions throughout the region and there may be times when our assistance is needed directly and our assistance is needed only indirectly. but we should look to be supportive. what i would hope from the congress is that it works with

the administration to make sure that resources are available when we need them to support those transitions. i'm going to be very frank again, senator, if you don't mind. i was in algeria during the civil war there, there was brave algerian opposition at the time and we had nothing to offer them. there was no access to the democratic institute and the kinds of programs they do or the republican institute. those kinds of programs actually do matter a lot and we work with civil society and political parties. those programs do help. and we have clawed and scratched for gain s -- it's still up to the local people whether iraq, syria or egypt, but we can help. and i hope, we, the american

people will understand the value to our national security of supporting those democratic transitions. >> we want to thank you for your testimony, but express our gratitude and commend dation on a much larger scale for your commitment on the ground, which is a noteworthy and very significant act of public service. we appreciate that. and we'll work with you and i know that a bipartisan sentiment in a town that bipartisanship is all too rare. ambassador, thank you very much for your testimony. and we're adjourned. >> thank you, senator. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

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>> following a series of tweets remarking the capitol looks beautiful tonight, arizona representative giffords returned to the house to cast one of the last votes to raise the nation's debt ceiling. >> throughout america, there isn't a name that stirs more love, more admiration, more respect, more wishing for our daughters to be like her than the name of congresswoman gabby giffords. thank you, gabby, for joining us today. >> watch her return to the house online at the c-span video library. it's washington, your way. >> the cranch span networks, we provide coverage of politics, public affairs, nonfiction books and american history available to you on television, radio, online and on social media

networking sites and find our content any time through c-span video library and we go on the road with our digital bus, bringing our resources to your community. it's washington your way, the c-span networks now available in more than 100 million homes, provided by cable, provided as a public service. >> a look at the u.s. capitol here where the senate today completed congressional approval of the debt ceiling and deficit reduction agreement. that vote was 74-26, with 28 republicans, 45 democrats and one independent, senator leiberman, voting in favor of the compromise, while 19 republicans, six democrats and one independent, senator sanders of vermont, voted against the agreement. this, of course, follows the house's approval of the measure last night. immediately following the senate vote, president obama appeared in the white house rose garden to discuss the significance of

the legislation. his comments are just under 10 minutes. >> it was a long and contentious debate and i thank the american people for keeping up the pressure on their elected officials to put politics aside and work together for the good of the country. this compromise guarantees more than $2 trillion in deficit reduction. it's an important first step to ensuring that as a nation we live within our means. yet, it allows us to keep making key investments in things like education and research that lead to new jobs and assures that we aren't cutting too abruptly while the economy is still fragile. this is, however, just the first step. this compromise requires that

both parties work on a plan to cut the deficit, which is important to the long-term health of our economy. and since you can't close the deficit with just spending cuts, we'll need a balanced approach where everything's on the table. yes, that means making some adjustments to protect health care programs like medicare so they are there for future generations. it also means reforming our tax code so the wealthiest americans and biggest corporations pay their fair share and getting rid of tax subsidies to oil and gas exps and tax loopholes that pay a lower tax rate than teachers and nurses. i have said it before and will say it again, we can't balance the budget on the backs of the very people who have borne the biggest brunt of this recession. we can't make it tougher for young people to go to college or ask seniors to pay more for

health care or ask scientists to give up on promising medical research because we couldn't close a tax shelter for the most fortunate among us. everyone is going to have to chip in. that's only fair. that's the principle i will be fighting for during the next phase of this process. and in the coming months, i'll continue also to fight for what the american people care most about, new jobs, higher wages and faster economic growth. while washington has been absorbed in this debate about deficits, people across the country are asking, what can we do to help the father looking for work, what are we going to do for the single mom who has seen her hours cut at the hospital, what are we going to do to make it easier for businesses to put up that hiring sign. that's part of the reason why people are so frustrated with what has been going on in this town. in the last few months, the

economy has already had to absorb an earthquake in japan, economic headwinds coming from europe, the arab spring and oil prices, all of which have been very challenging for the recovery. but these are things we couldn't control. our economy didn't need washington come along with a manufactured crisis to make things worst. that was in our hands. it's pretty likely the uncertainty surrounding the raising of the debt ceiling for businesses and consumers has been unsettling and one more impediment to the full recovery that we need and something we could have avoided entirely. so voters may have chosen divided government, but they sure didn't vote for dysfunctional government. they want us to solve problems. they want us to get this economy growing and adding jobs. and while deficit reduction is part of that agenda, it is not

the whole agenda. growing the economy isn't just about cutting spending, it's not about rolling back regulations that protect our air and water and keep our people safe. that's not how we are going to get past this recession. we are going to have to do more than that. and that's why when congress gets back from recess, i will urge them to immediately take some steps, bipartisan, commonsense steps that will make a difference. it will create a climate where businesses can hire, where folks have more money in their pockets to spend, where people who are out of work can find good jobs. we need to begin by extending tax cuts tore middle class families where you have more money in your paychecks next year. if you have mao money in your pay check you are more likely to spend it and small businesses,

immediate-sized businesses and large businesses will have more customers and in a position to hire. we need to make sure millions of workers who are pounding the pavement are not denied needed unemployment benefits. through patent reform we could cut the red tape from quickly turning new ideas in the thriving business which holds our economy back. and i want congress to pass a set of trade deals, deals we already negotiated that will help displaced workers and sell more products in asian south america, products that are stamped with the words made in america. we need to give more opportunities to all those construction workers out there who lost their jobs when the housing boom went bust. we could give loans to private companies that want to repair our roads, bridges and airports,

rebuilding our infrastructure. we have workers who need jobs and a country that needs rebuilding, and infrastructure bank would help that be put together. on the topic of infrastructure, there is another stale mate in congress right now involving our aviation industry which has stalled construction projects all around the country and put tens of thousands of construction workers and others at risk because of politics. it's another washington inflicted wound on america and congress needs to break that impasse now hopefully before the senate adjourns so these folks can get back to work. these are some of the things we could be doing right now. there's no reason for congress not to send me those bills so i can sign them into law right away as soon as they get back from recess. both parties share power in washington and both parties need

to stake responsibility for improving the economy. not a democratic or republican responsibility, it is our collective responsibility as americans and i will be discussing additional ideas in the weeks ahead to help companies hire, invest and expand. so, we have seen in the past few days that washington has the ability to focus when there is a timer ticking down and when there is a looming disaster. it shouldn't take the risk of default, the risk of economic catastrophe to get folks in this town to work together and do their jobs, because there is already a quiet crisis going on in the lives of a lot of families and a lot of communities all across the country. they are looking for work and they have been for a while. they are making due with few hours or few customers or just trying to make ends meet. that ought to compel washington

to cooperate, that ought to compel washington to compromise and ought to compel washington to act. that ought to be enough to get all of us in this town to do the jobs we were sent here to do. we've got to do everything in our power to grow this economy and put america back to work. that's what i intend to do and i look forward to working with congress to make it happen. thank you very much everybody. >> a little before president obama spoke at the white house, senate democratic leaders spoke with reporters at the capitol about the final debt ceiling agreement and they said the legislation was not perfect but will avert economic disaster. >> the debate was long and it wasn't easy. for weeks the american people have watched and wondered whether congress can get its job